Image Via Scott Gardner
Image Via Scott Gardner

Must-do spring adventure: Pulling giant channel cats out of small streams

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Tackle

TERMINAL TACKLE

While the most common catfishing presentation is to lay a bait right on the river bottom, my most productive technique is to use a slip bobber. For one, a float lets you cover more water than you could with a bottom rig—you can often drift right through an entire pool with the slip bobber. And watching a bobber enables you to detect both bottom contact and strikes, since going by feel alone in a drifting kayak is difficult.

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Slip bobbers also let you easily adjust your bait to the proper depth. The bait should drift just above the bottom, regularly ticking the bottom as it drifts. I tie my braid directly to a 4/0 Gamakatsu octopus hook, and for weight I use large splitshot about eight inches above the hook.